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Wild Edibles Settles With Workers’ Group Pushing Boycott

By Steven Greenhouse January 20, 2010 8:24 amJanuary 20, 2010 8:24 am

After filing for bankruptcy last July largely because of a boycott, Wild Edibles, one of New York’s leading seafood purveyors, has reached a tentative $340,000 settlement with the workers’ group that persuaded more than 70 restaurants to boycott the company.

As part of the settlement, the group, Brandworkers International, which accused Wild Edibles of overtime violations, pledged to end its two-year boycott campaign — a pledge that the company said should help enable it to emerge from bankruptcy.

About two dozen workers at Wild Edibles had joined a federal lawsuit accusing the company of a widespread failure to pay time and a half for overtime work. In addition, Brandworkers asserted that the company had illegally harassed and fired several workers in retaliation for campaigning to form a labor union.

“More than anything, we showed that ordinary workers can get organized, take action together and win,” said Raymundo Lara Molina, a former employee of Wild Edibles.

Wild Edibles, which is based in Long Island City, Queens, has several retail shops, including a stall at Grand Central Market.

The settlement states that $137,500 of the money “shall be attributed to emotional distress resulting from alleged retaliation.”

The parties still need formal approval of their settlement from Judge Robert E. Gerber of Federal Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

The company said it would file a plan of reorganization within 45 days of the court’s approving the settlement.

The settlement would resolve the outstanding litigation involving the wage claims as well as complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

Wild Edibles had denied any labor law violations in the Labor Relations Board case, but last summer it acknowledged that some workers may not have been paid correctly; it said it had corrected those problems.

In its pressure campaign, Brandworkers worked closely with the Industrial Workers of the World, the upstart, reborn union that is seeking to organize workers at many Starbucks cafes.

The Wild Edibles workers, many of them immigrants, received strong support from community groups as well as City Councilman Eric N. Gioia, whose Queens district includes the company’s main processing center.

But then, if their overly high prices weren’t going for wages, these owners were truly greedy folk.

I understand that most places in the GC Marketplace tend to overcharge (perhaps, in part, due to the high rent) but the WE store on Third Ave in the East 30’s is similarly over-priced.

I often walk by it – but there is no way I’d pay the premium prices they charge – particularly at the end of the day when their fish and seafood are looking pretty “tired”.

I also never understood why they put in those tables and started serving meals in a fish store. It suggested an unfocused business plan – and was kind of “off putting”. Besides, the one time I went there to buy some salmon I realized that the counterman knew next to nothing about fish. Overall – WE strikes me as an upscale yuppie affectation when I’d much prefer a good old-fashioned fish monger.

So, while I guess I’m glad they’ve achieved labor peace – given their high prices (which continue even in an economic recession) – I don’t give them much of a future even after they emerge from Chapter 11.

I’m thrilled about this settlement. The workers at Wild Edibles who participated in the suit and the campaign are amazingly dedicated and wouldn’t have been able secure a fair award without such a vigorous effort. Business owners should understand that they will face real problems if they try to cheat their workers out of overtime pay and retaliate against their workers for organizing.

I’m glad that some unions, like the IWW, the RWDSU and its Retail Action Project campaign, and some Teamsters and UFCW locals are out there trying to hold accountable these employers who get an unfair advantage over lawful businesses by cheating and intimidating their workers. I’ve heard that Solis, Obama’s Labor Secretary, is turning the Depart. of Labor around to more effectively go after these sweatshops. She definitely seems like the most exciting member of Obama’s cabinet.

A few years ago Wild Edibles was included in a group of sea food retailers accused of selling farm raised salmon as wild Alaskan salmon with of course the markedly increased price; they in turn blamed their vendors, but for people who sell seafood, I find it impossible to give their explanation any credibility

Wild Edibles is garbage, their quality is poor and their ethics are even more poor. Look elsewhere when searching for a fish company. They are based on greed and you will not come out a winner after dealing with them. Garbage I tell you.

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